Thursday, July 1, 2010

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One of the newest additions to the list of Constructive Playthings Exclusive toys is this Tools of the Trade play set. My three children chose this toy unanimously because they love pretending to repair things. They are mostly pretend-fixers and not so much pretend-builders. This is one of the few imaginative play scenarios in which they actually work together like a team and do not argue or behave competitively.

What I love most about this set of toy tools, aside from the obvious quality and durability, is that it includes 15 pieces . . . enough items to outfit all three of my children. Excluding the 6AA batteries, this play set comes with everything your children will need to let their imaginations take off.

The "Tools of the Trade" set includes the following:

A hard hat that is adjustable

Ear phones to "protect" little ears

A cordless drill

A circular saw

A power sander

Work gloves

Safety goggles

A tool belt

A measuring tape

A t-square

A hand saw

An adjustable wrench

A flat head screwdriver

Pliers

A hammer

The tool belt is one of the items that really stood out to me. There was a specific place on the belt for every manual tool that comes with this set and the right tool fits in each place perfectly and securely. Each place is marked with a little picture of that tool, so no reading is required. I do think that this tool belt needs one or two more holes because it does not even come close to being small enough for our 3-1/2 year old twins to wear. This was great news for our 6 year old, for whom we needed to use the second to smallest position for the belt.

Conversely, the goggles were much too small, even for our preschoolers. I think they need to be adjustable. They were far too tight and left a mark on my son's face after wearing it for just a minute. He was perfectly content, however, to wear them on top of his head. I am tempted to remove the existing elastic and replace it with a longer one.

Luckily, each of my three children had a different favorite piece to play with. Our 3-1/2 year old son was fascinated by the working tape measure. It took him awhile to figure out how to manually wind the tape back into the case by turning the knob. It is quite a slow process because one whole rotation makes the tape measure retract about a centimeter. It did, however, teach him patience, which is great!

Our 6 year old son's favorite piece was the adjustable wrench. This wrench can actually be adjusted by rotating the threads like a real wrench.

Our 3-1/2 year old daughter's favorite item was the pair of work gloves. She very much enjoyed dressing up in the hard hat and gloves. Wendy from Bob the Builder never looked this good!

The "Tools of the Trade" tool set can be found exclusively on ConstPlay.com . It retails for $35.99, which is an excellent value considering how many pieces are included. As my own children have proven, this would be a great gift for siblings, which would make it an even better value to be able to cross two children off your list instead of one.

Thank you to Constructive Playthings for sending us a sample toy free of charge to base this review upon and for providing a gift card for our contest prize.

What you can win:One lucky reader will receive$50 Constructive Playthings gift card.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of toys offered by Constructive Playthings. Then leave a comment telling me the name of a toy you think your child would love (aside from the toy reviewed in this article). You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1)For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3)For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post ANDConstPlay.com. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)

Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed onMonday, July 26th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.